A Selective Eye, Photographs 1975-2025

Richard Wotton

Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui
4 Pukenamu Drive, Whanganui

13 December , 2025 – 3 May, 2026

A major survey exhibition celebrating five decades of work by one of New Zealand's most significant and enduring photographic artists.

The Sarjeant’s Senior Curator and Programmes Manager, Greg Donson, who has worked closely with Wotton on this exhibition, comments: “Wotton’s ongoing interest in architecture, has created a body of images that are refined studies in composition, light, memory and, often, nostalgia, encompassing both New Zealand and overseas subjects. His attention has not been drawn to grand structures but more to vernacular architecture – houses and buildings that would often be overlooked or unseen. He has a special ability to capture these spaces in an uncanny suspended animation, where human presence is implied: an empty smoko room, a theatre, a restaurant – you can almost hear the conversations, the small talk, the gossip.

“The exhibition contains images that could be found anywhere in New Zealand, but the fact that so many of these sites are places that will strike a chord with locals is a special thing and a wonderful legacy that Wotton has created.

“Together, the works in this exhibition form a visual archive that is both personal and civic, documenting not only the physical environment of Whanganui but also the people and sensibilities that define it.”